


the runaways

by beep_beep_byler



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up Together, High School, I really like this, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Running Away, Strangers to Lovers, dream/clay is a simp, i hope you do too, no beta we die like men, why the fuck isn’t there a dnf relationship tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27664187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beep_beep_byler/pseuds/beep_beep_byler
Summary: after twelve years, george finally decides to run away with clay.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound
Comments: 21
Kudos: 491





	the runaways

the first time george set his eyes on clay was in the first grade. it was recess, george remembers quite vividly. the small brunet was tugging at blades of grass from the earth making his hands turn dirty. a particularly large gust of air picked the clump of grass out of george's hand and took it away from him. he tried to grasp it. no matter how hard he tried, it always slipped out of his pudgy fingers. 

george tried to restart his collection, but was interrupted by the sound of wood chips crunching. he looked up to make eye contact with a specific blond. his cheeks were chubby and his hair was messy. george didn't know his name, but he saw him at lunch every now and then. 

"you!" the boy boomed, "you need to run with me so we can win the war against the girls!" he pointed an accusing finger at george who looked at him in shock. he was taken off guard, and once again the grass slipped out of his grasp. he sighed as he watched the blades dance away. 

"no, i'm good. i've got to collect more grass," george denied while he ran his fingers through the sod. 

"your accent is funny," was the last thing the kid said before bounding away to the opposite side of the playfield. george scrunched his nose slightly. he wasn't sure if that was an insult or not, but he chose to ignore it. 

the brunet often wished he had friends, but he also enjoyed his alone time. he enjoyed times like these where he collected useless pieces of grass to keep to himself. 

sure, george has seen and had minor conversation with the boy, who he now knows is clay, every now and then. the first day of eighth grade was memorable for the both of the them. 

as per usual, george was eating his food alone. since he was the oldest in his middle school, he had specific privileges. one of his favorite privileges was the ability to sit outside during lunch, george happily took that opportunity. 

he was sitting in the lush terf with his empty lunch tray sitting at his side. george wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as his carded his fingers through the soft grass. the dew drops wet his fingers slightly, but it soon evaporated. his favorite book was sitting in his lap, he was utterly engrossed into the intricate story. most of the stories he reads are about damsels in distress getting saved by a hero. he sometimes fantasized about being one of the damsels getting swept off his feet by a strong champion. george would be good as dead if he was open about the fact that he would much rather be saved by a hero instead of heroine. he wasn't sure what his preference meant, but he was too scared to find out. 

the warning bell rang, coaxing george out of his fantasy world. he dog-eared his page before hauling himself off the ground. 

"hey! watch out, watch out!" a somewhat familiar voice shouted. george whirled around to see a blond boy hurdling down the hill unnaturally fast on a plastic lunch tray. his knees were awkwardly bunched up to his chest so he could fit and his hands gripped the tray so hard his knuckles turned white. before george could even comprehend what was happening, he was swept off his feet almost comically and collapsed after the boy barreled into his legs. he made a mental note to be more specific about his fantasy scenarios. 

george wheezed as he tried to catch his breath. the way he landed caused all the air to escape his lungs. the boy, who george just realized was clay, scrambled towards him.

"hey, hey, listen to me," clay murmured in a hypnotizing voice, "follow my breathing. it might be difficult, but you can do it." he rested his palm on george's cheek to stroke it softly. george blushed heavily, but he likes to tell himself it was because of the lack of air, not the intimate situation. 

slowly, george found his grounding. he inhaled an experimental breath of air to make sure he was okay. he subconsciously wished he was still wheezing so he could still feel the calloused hand on his cheek. "thanks, how did you know how to fix that?"

"i dunno, my little sister has asthma, so i learned breathing exercises," he shrugged nonchalantly, "i thought they were stupid, but apparently they were useful." mirth was sparkling in his gold eyes. george assumed they were green. 

george didn't know how to respond so he just looked down to his lap. it didn't take long for clay to start up another conversation. "you're george, right? we went to elementary school," he said. when he received a nod, he continued by saying, "well, my name is-"

"-clay," george cut him off with a small smile, "i know your name too." he couldn't help the giggle bubbling out of his throat. he felt self conscious for laughing, but clay didn't seem to mind. 

clay mirrored george's grin. "do you want to get lunch? i usually get food from school, but i lost it in a bet."

"huh?" george asked, "aren't the lunch lines closed?" did clay bump his head? what was he thinking?

"no, i mean off campus. i do it all the time; there's a fast food place just down the street."

george thought for a few seconds. he was subconsciously frowning at the thought of leaving class. he didn't want to get in trouble nor did he want to get dubbed as a "bad kid." he didn't see clay as a bad kid, though. 

as if the blond could read his mind, he rolled his eyes playfully and said, "no, you won't get in trouble. if we do, i'll say i forced you to come or something. don't worry." he stood up from where they were sitting on the ground and offered a hand to george. he very hesitantly grabbed and hauled himself up. their hands lingered on one another's for a second too long, but neither of them chose to comment on it. 

"c'mon, let's bounce," clay said with a wide grin before leading them away. "oh, by the way, i wanted to say sorry for calling your accent funny."

"it's okay," george said with a sheepish smile. he wondered why (and how) clay remembered such a fact. 

the two were attached at the hip. they weren't know as just george or just clay. they were known as george and clay. ever since they shared half of a greasy burger with fries and a cookies and cream milkshake, they became best friends. even though they were quite opposites, they melded together quite well. 

"did you hear what happened to pete?" george asked casually. he didn't expect much of a conversation out of it, it was just stupid sophomore drama. to george, it was more terrifying than stupid. he counted the glow-in-the-dark on his ceiling while he laid on his back on his bed. 

clay next to him mumbled, "mmm. i don't think so. what happened?" he tilted his head in the direction of george to see his profile. clay was always jealous about how george was so handsome no matter what the situation was. 

"oh, um- he got jumped for being- gay-," george inwardly cringed at the way he hesitated, it's not like gay is a taboo word, "by frankie and his gang. frankie thought pete was staring at him in the locker room."

it was silent for a few seconds. george thought he messed up. was clay homophobic? george didn't think so, but he always has to expect for the worst in this town. 

"what?" clay's voice was so quiet and gravely it made george involuntarily shiver. "i'm going to beat the fuck out of frankie," he growled before getting out of the laying position he was in to jump out of bed. 

before he could get too far, george followed quickly behind him. clay wasn't able to get to the door before george reached him. the brunet grabbed his best friend by the wrist and pulled him towards his body. 

clay turned around and george could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. george moved his hands up to rest them on the blond's burning cheeks. that has been a small habit the two of them fell into in the last two years. it was strangely intimate, but it always worked to calm one another down. it was mostly clay that needed to be calmed down. 

clay sighed as he melted into george's unnaturally cold hands. the juxtaposition of the two boys was phenomical. if clay was the sun, george would be the moon. if clay was fire, george would be ice. the blond closed his eyes as his breathing slowly fell in synchronization with the caresses on his cheek. 

a minute passed and it seemed like things were somewhat back to normal. they now were sitting on the floor of george's spotless room when they could easily sit on the bed behind them. clay was playing with his best friend's thin fingers. 

"what if," clay's uncharacteristically soft voice cut through the silence, "we ran away together? just you and me?" 

george didn't answer. clay didn't push. they sat in the loud silence together. 

george was absolutely stoked when he found out his job application for the nearest record store got accepted. he was able to do mindless tasks, listen to music, and get paid for it. it was an absolute score. 

about two weeks in, the store had become a regular hang out spot for clay. well, only the days that george was working. he would usually bring his homework while listening to the records george picked out for him. clay always was excited when george picked another record for him to listen to. even if he didn't like the sound of the song, he would still play it on repeat just because george chose it for him. 

their junior year was quite rough. the mass amounts of homework george had mixed with the football practice clay went through made it difficult for the two to spend time with each other. either way, they still found a way to see one another.

clay was sitting on the counter with his algebra homework sitting in her lap. he chewed his lip as he tried to understand the foreign. while he was doing that, george was sorting through the records making sure they were in the right place. 

"ooh!" george vocalized as he found a specific record. 

"hm?" clay hummed without looking up from his polynomials worksheet. 

clay didn't get a verbal answer, but he heard a familiar tune start to play. he looked up to see george shooting him a happy smile. he chose "their song."

clay set his homework aside before hopping down from the counter to saunter over to his best friend. george yelped in surprise after clay swooped him up into his strong arms and started to dance. 

they danced in each other's grasp in no particular fashion or tempo, they were just in the moment. just clay and george, no one else. 

"their song" was how the way described their friendship. from an outsiders perspective, they would assume that anyone who dubbed that as "their song" was a couple. the two boys knew it was quite a romantic song. neither of them brought it up, and neither of them asked.

they continued to sway around the store, swerving through the isles of records. they were giggling softly together. as the song came to a close, george looked up to see clay gazing down at him. george marveled at the height difference. clay has always been taller than him, but the last two years he's shot up like a weed. 

something was sparkling in clay's eyes. george couldn't pinpoint what it was. clay's hand rose from george's waist to place it on his cold cheek. 

"we should run away together some time," clay mumbled to where george had to strain to hear. 

"maybe," he whispered back. 

clay dipped his head down so he could rest his forehead on george's. the glances that were being shot down to the brunet's lips made his stomach jump. 

the greeting bell for the store rang causing george to hop out of clay's grasp as if he was burnt by it. he didn't miss the disappointment flashing in clay's eyes, but he definitely tried to ignore it. 

"hello! welcome in," george greeted before scurrying back behind the counter and clearing his throat awkwardly. he subconsciously moved as faraway as he could from clay. 

george didn't know what happened and a part of him didn't want to find out. 

clay messed with george's fingers as they laid on his bed. the blond's room was a hot mess, but neither of them minded. george offered to clean it multiple times, but clay declined. he claimed it "created character." 

george was staring up at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. clay watched him. he noticed the way the bruent's chest rose and fell as his diaphragm contracted. he noticed how his dark eyelashes fluttered as he blinked. he wanted to drink in every detail he could get before george felt eyes boring into the side of his face. looked over to see clay staring at him with an unreadable expression. 

"what?"

clay didn't respond verbally. he leaned in and pressed his lips to his best friend's. he wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he was definitely surprised when george didn't pull away. it felt like the dam of tension broke after years of it being pent up. 

when george kissed him for real, clay's heart jumped. he propped himself up so he was able to reach the brunet's lips better. 

they moved together quickly, almost hungrily. george sat up so they were chest to chest, and he was almost in his best friends lap. his hand shot up so he could tangle his fingers in the blond hair at the back of clay's neck. 

clay pulled george close while he swiped his tongue against the bottom of the brunet's lip. george quickly opened his mouth to let him in. 

the two of them were quite inexperienced with kissing mostly because neither of them got into a relationship after they became best friends. it would've felt wrong if they dated anyone else. 

their tongues danced along each other's slowly, the blond was feeling every part of george he could get with both his hands and tongue. clay kissed from the side of george’s lips to his jaw to his neck. 

“is this okay?”

george didn’t respond, but he did tilt his head to the side offering more space for clay. to the him, that spoke louder than a yes. he continued to leave gentle pecks around the base of his neck shyly. 

when clay left a particularly harder, george let out a small sound. the blond’s eyes shot up quickly to see george’s flustered face trying to look anywhere than him. clay was now revved up, he wanted to hear more noises coming from his best friend. 

clay would kiss and suck occasionally at parts that scattered from below his jaw to the middle of his collarbone. no where was safe from clay.

when clay left a sharper suck than usual, george leaned back abruptly. he wrenched himself out of clay's grasp and removed his hand from his hair. 

"george?" clay asked almost nervously. did he do something wrong?

"oh my god, i can't believe i did that," he mumbled to himself. clay's hands quickly found their way to george's cheeks. this was the first time in a long while that clay was the one to comfort george. 

george wanted to lean away from the warm hands but also wanted to melt into clay and become one. he couldn't choose both, so he just sat there. he didn't move, he didn't blink, he did nothing. what was he supposed to do? he just kissed his male best friend in the most homophobic town in the state. the worst part was that he enjoyed it, too. 

"it's okay, george, it's okay," clay whispered softly as he caressed the brunet's cheek, "let's just run away. it could be you and me, just us."

"i- we can't-"

"please."

george was silent before hanging his head. he didn't respond and he left shortly after leaving a broken hearted clay behind. 

the next day, both of them ignored what happened the previous day. they didn't know what to say, so they just avoided it. it hurt the both of them that it was an ignored conversation, but they were far too sore about the subject to bring it up. 

when george walked down the hallway with clay by his side, he heard giggling coming from the side of him. he looked towards the direction of the laughing, but was soon bumped into. a girl got shoved by her friends to talk to george. 

"hi- uh- george- do you want to go to prom with me?" the girl asked. her posse of friends behind her were giggling with a hand covering their mouths mischievously, but he could practically feel their sly smiles. 

if george was being honest, he didn't even know this girl's name. he stayed silent for a second too long. the girl's face dropped looking crestfallen. 

"oh- it's okay- we don't have to-"

"no, no, it's fine. i was just.. thinking," george dismissed with a wave of his hand, "i- yeah- sure let's go." 

"yay! amazing! thank you!" she exclaimed causing her friends behind her to cheer, "give me your number so i can text you."

"uh, how about you give me yours?" george said. he was subtly trying to get her to tell her his name without him actually asking.

"yeah! sure- why not- hold on-" she stammered before giving the number. 

the two of them said their goodbyes. when the girl finally left, he huffed and turned around. "jeez, that was so awkward-" he was cut off to find clay no where to be seen. "clay?" he called out uselessly knowing he was already gone. 

george frowned before trudging to his next class alone. 

days passed and clay still hasn't gotten in contact with george. he was practically avoiding the brunet like he was the plague. clay didn't text, call, or come up to george in the halls. not even once. they would make eye contact from across the hallway, but clay would always turn the other direction. 

george knew what he did wrong, but what was he supposed to do in that position? he was surrounded by a group of girls that would've probably jumped him if he rejected their friend. also, george is bad at saying no, and clay knows that.

george texted clay for the last time he promised himself. he texted a simple "i'm sorry." the previous texts were along the lines of "hello?" or "clay? can you answer me?" 

it took about five seconds for three dots to appear on screen. they disappeared then came back a few moments after. "i know. i am too." 

before george could lift his fingers to even attempt to write a message in response, clay's caller id flashed on his screen. the brunet quickly answered the call.

"hello?-"

"hello?-" 

they started to chuckle awkwardly as they both cut each other off. 

"you first," clay said into the phone. his voice was tired and worn out. george wondered what he was doing that made him so tired. was clay thinking about him? did he make the blond upset? well, the way that clay had been ignoring him, it would be safe to say that he was indeed upset. 

"hi, uhm, i just wanted to say i missed you. i wanted to know where you went," george sighed softly, "and i also wanted to apologize."

"i've missed you too," clay murmured before sitting in a few seconds of silence. the lack of conversation from clay made butterflies erupt in george’s stomach. they weren’t the good butterflies. another few moments, the blond decided to speak up again, "i should be the one apologizing. i overreacted and i didn't know how to respond to that."

"it's okay, clay! it really is, i promise," george tried to quickly add so clay didn't feel bad about himself. what the brunet wouldn't give to see clay in person so he could cup his beautiful tan face in his hands. so he could run his thumb over clay's chapped bottom lip. so he could count the freckles sprinkled over his cheeks. 

"it's really not. we both know that," clay huffed. it sounded like he was frustrated, but he wasn't frustrated at george. he would never be frustrated at george. he was frustrated because of his own feelings. 

when george didn't respond, clay continued to speak.

"i overreacted and didn't know how to cope with my own feelings. i- i love you. like, a lot," clay's voice cracked in multiple places with emotion. "it really hurt to see you say yes to her."

"it hurt to say yes for me too," george confessed with a small frown; the disappointment was evident in his voice. 

"how about..." clay started before he cut himself off with a sigh, "never mind, that's stupid."

"no, no, what were you going to say?"

"i was going to ask if you wanted to ditch prom with me. we could go run to another city, eat at an expensive restaurant, stay in a fancy hotel. i thought that would be a bit much."

"that sounds really fun actually," george said genuinely. a smile started to spread across his face. he was finally getting his best friend back. to be fair, clay was only gone for about a week, but it felt like a life time to george. "let's do it. i'll text that girl and cancel the plans."

"really?" clay's voice peaked in excitement. 

"yeah," george smiled before hanging up the phone.

the girl wasn't amused when george lied he had a death in the family so he couldn't go to prom with her. 

it's a known fact that the brit was a the worst liar. clay was able to tell his best friend was bullshitting from a mile away. the way that george's accent got thicker and how he started to trip over his words more often than not proved that he was lying. it was quite amusing to clay. 

thankfully, the girl huffed and walked away. george exhaled out of relief. 

"now that wasn't too difficult," clay joked as he clapped his friend on the back playfully. george shoved him back. he rolled his eyes fondly at his best friend, but he was extremely glad that the rejection was off his shoulders. 

a week and a half passed before clay was parked right outside of george house at 7 o'clock on the dot. he promised he'd be on time; clay never breaks a promise for george. 

george he had one shoe on as he bounced out at 7:01 with his hands trying to tie his tie. he stumbled into the car with a sheepish grin on his face. 

"hi,” the brunet said simply. 

"hey," clay gave him a sly smile, "you're late."

"well, why do you expect?" george snapped back with no malicious intent, "you screened my calls and then when you do call me back, you just say you're outside my house! i was halfway through getting dressed! if you couldn't tell." he shoved him with hand over the car console. clay dramatically flailed around as he was pushed. 

"god, george, when did you get so strong?" he croaked pretending like he was majorly hurt. 

"yeah, yeah, whatever, just get driving."

the drive was about an hour long giving the two boys time to chat about anything on the earths surface. they sung along horribly to the shitty pop music on the radio that crackled every now and then. 

it was liberating to george when he stuck his head out of the window when they were racing down the highway. he whooped every time clay sped up. the blond couldn't help but to have a laugh bubble out of him every time george hollered in excitement. clay tapped against the steering wheel with an open palm along with the tempo of the song. the energy coursing through the car would've made their hair stand up if it was true electricity. 

when they parked outside the restaurant, george retreated his head back into the car. his hair was a wild mess, so clay reached out a hand to smooth the brunet locks. subconsciously, george leaned into his hand like a cat. 

clay's hand migrated down to george's cheek and cupped it tenderly. the brunet sighed softly before grabbing clay's hands and intwining their fingers. 

their relationship was weird. they were friends, sure, but they acted more than that. they definitely had feelings for each other, but they didn't bring it up. but if they did bring it up, what would they do after that?

it didn't take long before george leaned in to press a gentle kiss to clay's chapped lips. it was short and sweet. he leaned back with a small smile before turning to get out of the car. 

clay's heart was thrumming so hard he thought it would hop out of his chest. 

it was silent as they laid in the hotel bed. george was laying on clay's chest. he was listening to the ba-bump of clay's beating heart. his eyes were dropping slightly as the the rhythm was lulling him into sleep. if the thumping didn't make him tired, the fingers running through his hair definitely did.

clay's free hand was intertwined with george's resting on the stomach. the brunet watched the rising and falling like a swinging pocket watch. 

"i love you george," clay whispered.

"i love you too."

"no, i really mean it."

"so do i," george nuzzled his face deeper into clay’s chest. the mix of the of his cologne and his natural scent made george feel safe and slightly dizzy. he never smelled it so strong. 

“we need to run away after graduation.”

“we really do,” george mumbled before finally succumbing to sleep. 

and they did. not even an hour after they got their diploma, they packed their shit into clay’s dumpy old car and dipped. they quickly said goodbye to their family (clay’s wasn’t surprised he was leaving so quickly) and even quicker they left the town. 

clay had one hand on the steering wheel and the other in his boyfriend’s hand. as soon as they saw the sign that said they were leaving their town, george asked something so simple. 

“do you like me like i like you?”

clay didn’t have to think longer than five seconds. 

“i have liked you in that way since eighth grade,” he said honestly, “i always knew i was in love with you.”

“really?”

“yeah,” clay smiled. shot a quick look at george’s face before turning back to the road so they didn’t veer to the side. 

“i knew too, but i was too scared,” george grabbed clay’s hand to entwine their fingers that was resting in the console. he squeezed it softly before inhaling. “i’m not scared anymore, clay.”

“neither am i.”

“do you want to be.. boyfriends?”

“absolutely,” clay brought george’s hand up to his lips to kiss the top of it softly. george smiled brightly as he looked out the window. 

“after twelve years, i finally decided to run away with you.”

“took you long enough.”


End file.
